Found in Oklahoma
by Nature9000
Summary: After iCarly ends, and his mother checks into a mental ward, Freddie is left with nothing to do besides find his birth father. Anxious and fearful, he makes the connection, still fearing his father will wish nothing to do with him.


Found in Oklahoma

Disclaimer: I don't own iCarly, nor do I own the song that inspired this oneshot

A/N: This oneshot is inspired by an old icon of the 90s, when I was younger, one of my favorite singers. Billy Gilman. This oneshot is Freddie's departure from iCarly, as I've already done Sam's, and inspired by the song "Oklahoma". Here is link to it, give it a good listen as you read: youtube dot c(om)/watch?v=34j78Z67iMM

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-WELCOME TO YOUR HOME, HERE IN OKLAHOMA-

Freddie set his camera down on the floor as he slid into seated position, back to his door. He gazed across the hall at the door that once belonged to his best friend, Carly. Sam was gone now, having left for LA. He'd not heard from Carly in some time, and Spencer was spending all his time trying to focus on a future. God only knew where Gibby was.

He was waiting for someone who was supposed to buy the video camera from him for a couple hundred dollars. Inside his hands he held a manila folder, tears sprang from his eyes as he pulled it close to his chest. Now old enough, he was making the decision to move away from his mother. Though through the circumstances, he knew he couldn't make it on his own. However, his mom had already begun the process of committing herself to an mental asylum, unable to mentally contain her emotions anymore. The package he held, he'd read over and over, but he'd not wanted to believe it. It was so far away, his heart was breaking as he tried to imagine the man he never knew. The man they spoke of in the letter.

_Mr. Benson, we thank you for your quick responses and we are happy to provide our services to you. We've found your father and have initiated contact with him, he has a wife and a young daughter. He says he never knew he had a son, but as his wife has seen the show 'iCarly', she is the one who put the information on our website. He wants you to be a part of his family. He lives in Tulsa, Oklahoma, we will be happy to take you to see. Sincerely, your social worker, Mrs. Alice Johnson._

What was this man like? What was his story? His mom never spoke of his father, did the man _really_ want to meet him? In the past, he'd always pictured his father as a skinny scumbag who left his mother pregnant, much like Sam's father simply walked out of her life, or as Carly's mother did. He never pictured the prospect that the man never even knew he existed. "Freddie Benson?" Someone asked. He looked up to see the director who was buying the camera from him. "Is this the video camera?"

"Yes sir." With a grunt, he heaved himself up and lifted the camera. "I have a whole system set up. Computers, speakers, amplifiers…I'll sell them all." He started to open the door and took a wistful pause, the apartment was spotless with the exception of the sound and camera system in the middle of the living room. Plastic coverings had been thrown over the furniture. Lewbert was getting antsy about the prospect of giving this apartment to someone else, though T-Bo appeared to want to take full ownership of it. "There you go…"

"Let me see here." The man took the camera and walked over to the various items set up. After several long minutes of studying, Freddie began drumming his fingers on his pants. He swayed to the right, pocketing his thumbs and repeatedly drumming his palms on his thighs. His head bounced up and down as his gaze drifted off towards the ceiling. Several more minutes passed before the director stood and turned to him. "I'll take it all for a thousand."

"R-Really!" His jaw dropped and he quickly cleared his throat. The man held out a thousand bills in cash and Freddie quickly took the money, first checking if it was real, then counting it. There were ten authentic one hundred dollar bills! This was more than enough to carry him all the way to Oklahoma and more! "Thank you! It's yours!" He put the whole thing on a cart to be wheeled out, so the director thanked him and soon left the apartment with the items.

He turned his eyes to three heavy suitcases beside the vanilla couch and his heart stopped, realization hit him that this dream was a reality. He was really leaving, never again would he come back to the life he'd known here. He took a heavy breath and clenched his eyes shut, trying desperately to envision what Sam and Carly would tell him, but this was not a decision to make with them as he always had done. This was a choice he made on his own, seeking out his birth father when his mother first admitted herself into the mental ward several weeks ago.

He slowly opened the manila folder and pulled out the letter with a photo attached. In the photo was a man holding a small nine year old girl in his arms. The man was in military uniform, a Marine, it seemed. He had decorated shoulders and stars on his cuffs. He had soft brown hair, much like Freddie, and gentle brown eyes. His thick arms wrapped around his daughter's waist. The small brunette was waving her arms in the air as her mother stood beside the two of them, smiling with pride. The mother had shoulder length brown hair, blue eyes, and dimpled cheeks.

"Who are you?" Freddie whispered, his heart growing heavy as a lump formed in his throat. He acknowledged he likely didn't need the money, the social workers didn't charge to transport, but this was only if it didn't work out.

How long had it been since he'd dreamt of this man? How many times had he asked, _hinted_ at his mother to tell him something, _anything_? His mother had done so many unethical things along the way, he knew he himself was just too messed up for anyone to really give a damn about. Maybe not, however. Maybe there was hope that he wouldn't have to be alone, to _feel _alone.

Sam and Carly would tell him to go for it, surely. To find out who his father really was, at least. He'd asked the social workers to let the man answer his questions first, but surely they would tell him whatever he needed or wanted to know. The longer he waited, the more nervous and anxious he became. He was almost ready to cancel, but before he could even give that a thought, there came the fatal knocking at the door.

Carefully he opened it to reveal a dark skinned, friendly woman with a round dimpled face and caring brown eyes. Her raven hair was up in a braided bun. She had a navy blue business outfit, and a hand outstretched. It was Mrs. Johnson. "Freddie?"

"S-So it is real? Not all a dream?" They've had this discussion, but he was still not wanting to believe it. Alice gave him a friendly smile and crouched down beside him, patting his upper arms and looking directly into his eyes.

"This is real. I know you're worried, frightened, but I can tell you from what we have determined, this is him." There were DNA packages that could be done in transport, and they'd already done all the swabbing and the samples to prove it. This was, beyond a shadow of a doubt, his father. "Freddie, this man wept when he saw your photos. He said he didn't know he had a son, he said he would have, should have been there. Your father is a military man, a marine, stationed overseas for the majority of his life. He's retired from the service now, that is how he was found. He wants to meet you."

"I-I have a little sister too, apparently…"

"Yes, and she's more than happy to meet you. If you're ready, we will go." Freddie quickly extended his hand, gripping tightly the money in his palm. Alice looked down at the offering with a raised eyebrow. "You know we don't require payment."

"At least for what the flight's going to cost…even if it's just a donation to charity. I…anything for what you've done…" Alice put her hand over his and gently pushed it down, holding onto her reassuring smile.

"Hold onto it, Mr. Benson. In case you need it for something." He slowly nodded his head and looked back at the empty room. Wiping a tear from his eyes, he grabbed his suitcase and started to leave, keeping his memories and past behind him. He wasn't sure he wanted to go, and already he'd said goodbye to his mother, who knew well what he had been doing. She agreed it was for the best, and asked that he forgive her for never telling him anything about the man. He was still working on it, but hopefully, he could forgive her with time.

Oklahoma, five houses down the road, a simple small house and a white garage beside it, a man with a furrowed brow worked anxiously on his brown car. He was busy trying to replace a flat tire, but his hands were shaking and fumbling over the tools. He simply could not position the jack properly beneath the vehicle. A honey-colored dog with floppy ears walked up to him, whining slightly and holding a rope toy in its mouth. The man smiled at the rover and ran his hand over the pup's head before taking the rope and tossing it for the dog to fetch.

"Keith?" He looked up from the spare tire in front of him, resting his soot covered hands on the tire as his anxious eyes met his beautiful wife before him. She was leaning against the frame of the garage, smiling tenderly. "I've finished making our lunch and Monica's helped to set the table if you'd like a plate." His heart was racing and his eyes were misty, they'd just gotten the call that the social workers were on their way.

He'd been taken by surprise when they arrived the first day, asking if he knew he had a son out there. Nearly eighteen years ago, when he was just a Captain of the Marine Corps, he'd been a bit wild and less reserved. He met a woman while Astationed overseas near Venezuela at a bar, she was lonely and in need of companionship so he obliged. One thing led to another, then the next morning she was gone without word, and he was left ashamed, not even knowing her full name. The woman had been a tad crazy then. Now, the social workers said she was checking into a mental ward, and her son, _his_ son, wanted to be a part of his life. He could hardly contain his excitement, but at the same time, was afraid that he wouldn't really want anything to do with him.

"You know I can hardly eat, April."

"I know you're anxious, we all are, but you need something on your stomach. Come inside, the social workers will give us a call with the plane touches ground and they start driving over." She made her way over and hugged him close, a comforting gesture. "I'm sure Freddie is going to like you, you are an amazing man. Anyone would be lucky to have you as a father."

As they drove through the streets of this foreign state, Freddie's mind was spinning from all the nauseating emotions. He'd been told so much of this man, of his time in the service and the history of his family. He was a man of valor and honor, a retired Lieutenant Colonel. As frightened as he was, he simply could not wait a moment more. He still gripped the photo firmly in his fingers, tearing up as he fought the mixed emotions.

Would this man really take him in? How could he truly be nothing that his mother ever described him to be? Granted she never described him to be anything. His heart was pounding as they rounded the corner. "Seventeen and a half years, never seeing or knowing anything about him… " He put his head to Alice's shoulder, wishing hard that he could cease the waterworks.

"Don't be embarrassed by your tears. I've seen many go through this, I know it's scary to have gone your entire life never knowing your father." Could anyone possibly understand how important and great this was for him? If his father didn't want anything to do with him, then he would be _devastated! _

"He didn't sound like he wanted nothing to do with me?"

"No, the opposite really." Even his mother told him, anyone would be fortunate to have a son like him. She always regretted never telling him about his father, but it was hard when she hadn't known his name. Apparently they'd both been rather tipsy. She told him a bunch of his military friends made him get up and sing some karaoke. She was struck in that moment, and drunkily whisked him away to the motel. The next morning she'd been ashamed of what she'd done, she departed before he woke. It was not long before she learned she was pregnant. "Freddie, we've arrived."

"W-What?" He lifted his head and swept away his tears so his father wouldn't see them. Much to his astonishment, there was the man in the photo standing anxiously on the front lawn with a brown dog standing beside his knees. The man was wiping his hands with a rag, his eyebrows lifted in the middle and his eyes glazed over as their car pulled up. Indeed, this man looked like a much older version of himself.

He waited for Alice to leave the car, then slowly exited his side. The man had dropped his rag and was now leaning towards the right, his thumbs in his pockets and his hands tapping anxiously on his thighs. Freddie took a slow step forward, studying this Keith Marshall with anticipation and fright. "Y-You're him?" Freddie asked. "My father?"

"Yes…" Fresh tears welled up in his eyes as he and the man shared a long awaited, tearful hug. "I never knew I had a son, I wish…I would have been there, believe me I would have been there for you growing up." In the corner of Freddie's eyes, he caught a glimpse of the little girl running out of the house, her mother in tow behind her.

"I have nowhere else to go…nothing left for me back there…"

The woman stepped beside them, smiling tearfully as she placed a hand to his back. "We'd be more than happy to have you here, a part of our family…if you wish. Get to know us, let us get to know you." Freddie looked back at Alice, the social worker smiled cheerfully while holding onto a black folder with all the documentation. His heart jumped to his throat and he slowly nodded at the family. The young girl hugged his legs, cheering on about her new older brother. The dog barked happily and ran circles around them.

"Then welcome to your home, son," the man replied. "Here, in Oklahoma…"

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I hope you enjoyed this quick little oneshot, do let me know your thoughts of it. I'd love to hear what you think ^_^


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